Osaze’s goal downs Fulham

Nigerian international Osaze Odemwingie’s strike for Stoke City relegated Fulham to the lower league in England.
Osaze tapped in from a yard out after the ball clipped the underside of the crossbar and went into the path of the Nigerian.
The Craven Cottage side dropped out of the Barclays Premier League to end 13 consecutive years in the top flight without a fight.
Fulham were nervous, and nerves bring mistakes.
They were lucky not to go behind in the 24th minute when Mahamadou Diarra passed straight to Ireland on the edge of his own penalty area.
Ireland had options but went for goal himself, forcing Stockdale to leap acrobatically to his left to push the ball wide.
Stoke’s Oussama Assaidi had a field day, beating Burn for fun and causing havoc in Fulham’s already nervy back line with low balls into the box.
The punishment dished out must have shattered 21-year-old Burn’s confidence, and the second goal came from his flank.
Assaidi fed Odemwingie in behind Burn who played a low ball into Arnautovic, completely free running in from the opposite flank, who made no mistake firing in from seven yards.
Many of those players had already had enough and left when Assaidi made it three in the 73rd minute with a goal his performance deserved.
Steven Nzonzi carried the ball from just outside his own box as the home side broke quickly.
He fed Arnautovic on the right and his low cross was tapped in by Assaidi.
Kieran Richardson’s drive into the bottom left corner looked to have salvaged a scrap of dignity for the away side with 10 minutes to play, but that was extinguished two minutes later when substitute Jonathan Walters beat the offside trap to slot in a fourth.
Fulham have been an ever-present in England’s elite league since their whirlwind run from the Third Division, with three promotions in five season from 1997 to 2001.
Since then there has been a run to the 2010 Europa League final, including a glorious 4-1 victory against Juventus at home in the semi-final.
They have had a league-high finish of seventh in 2009.